Arafats Succession (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 12, 2004 |
| Report Number |
RS21965 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Clyde Mark, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Reports from Paris on November 4, 2004, that Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat was near death reopened questions about who would succeed him as President of the Palestinian Authority, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), head of al-Fatah, and President of the unilaterally declared Palestinian state. It is unlikely that one person would succeed Arafat in all four positions. Late October 2004 reports of Yasir Arafat's failing health opened speculation that the Palestinian leader had influenza, cancer of the digestive tract, leukemia, gall stones, intestinal infection, or some unnamed stomach affliction. Tunisian, Egyptian, Jordanian, and Palestinian doctors reportedly conferred and agreed that Arafat should go to Paris for treatment of his undisclosed or undetermined malady. On October 29, Arafat was flown from his Ramallah headquarters, where he had been confined under virtual house arrest by Israeli armed forces since 2002, to a French military hospital for treatment for a blood disorder. On November 4, various reports said that Arafat had lapsed into a coma, had died, or that he was brain dead but surviving on life support systems. The rumors led to a reexamination of the question - who will succeed Arafat? This report describes the mechanisms for replacing Arafat in his four positions and lists a few of the many possible successors. The report may be updated as necessary.
